It Tolls for Thee
by strawberrieschocolateandgames
Summary: My (LxLight) take on L's death and what goes through the two boys heads throughout the episode. One shot.


**It Tolls for Thee** **-** _strawberrieschocolateandgames_

Heavy rain surrounds the Task Force Headquarters. A raven-haired detective stands alone on the roof, drenched. _DING._ A bell can be faintly heard, whether it was a figment of the man's imagination or a real bell somewhere in the distance, he didn't know. _This will be my last day on earth..._ The rain grows heavier with each passing moment, as if the sky knows what's going to happen. _DING._ _I shouldn't have gotten so close to you._ The groggy eyed detective smirks to himself. _DING._ _Who would've guessed that the first person I let myself fall for would be a mass murderer._ L closes his eyes and lifts his head up toward the dark sky. _DING_. _I wonder if you knew this, Light Yagami? Perhaps this was your plan all along?_ He lets out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. He puts his hands in his pockets and glares sullenly at the city from atop the tall building.

Kira stalks down the hall of the HQ, heading for the stairs that lead to the roof. _DING_. As he comes closer to the door the rain grows louder. He steps outside. _DING. Huh?_ Light spots Kira's enemy standing alone in the freezing rain. ''What are you doing standing out there by yourself?'' He says, his voice muffled by the rain. L cups his hand to his ear as if to say, 'What was that?' Yagami rolls his eyes. "What are you doing standing out there by yourself?" He says, louder this time. _DING._ L cups his hand to his ear again, smirking. _I know he heard me that time, damn L._ The brunet steps out into the rain, and walks toward the other male. _DING._

Good and evil now stand face to face. "What are you doing Ryuuzaki?" Light says, with such innocence that L couldn't stand. _He knows. He has to know, that's why he's acting like this. He's come to gloat, to tell me that he wins without directly saying it. DING._ The sleep-deprived detective turns his head away from Kira. "Oh, I'm... not doing anything in particular. It's just..." L looks back up at the sky. DING. "... I hear the bell." L and Light's eyes meet.

The deceiver speaks. "The bell?"

"Yes." L breaks eye contact with the man who will soon be responsible for his demise. "The sound of the bell has been unusually loud today..." _DING._

"Hmm? Huh, I don't hear anything." The messy haired raven looks back at his killer with a blank expression.

"Really? You can't hear it? It's been ringing nonstop all day. I find it... very distracting." He averts his gaze from Light's once again. The detective couldn't stand looking into those eyes for too long. Even now, when L was on the edge of his death, he couldn't help but feel something deep for the man who stands a few feet away from him. "I wonder if it's a church? Maybe a wedding or perhaps a..." _DING._

"What are you getting at Ryuuzaki?" L shot his eyes at him at that question. "Come on cut it out, let's get back inside." The raven looks back at the ground sullenly. _DING._

"I'm sorry. Nothing I say makes any sense anyway. If I were you, I wouldn't believe any of it." Thunder began to resonate, almost in perfect symphony with the bell that was still ringing.

"Huh?" Light said under his breath.

No one spoke for a few moments. Nothing could be heard but the sweet orchestra of the rain storm and the tolling bells. _Is this really the end?_ Light thought for a moment. _L is really going to die. I won... but why does it feel so wrong? Why do I feel so heavy? DING._ He was shook from his thoughts at the sound of a bell. The brunet closes his eyes. "Hmph, you know you're totally right." Light said with a sarcastic, mocking tone. "Honestly, most of the things you say sound like complete nonsense. There'd be no end to my troubles if I actually took you seriously all the time. I probably know that better than anyone." The words the amber-eyed boy spoke were true. If he had taken L seriously he might have fallen for the messy haired raven. Just like the detective had fallen for HIM. And that was where he screwed up. It's one thing to keep your enemies close, but to develop feelings for them? That was a huge mistake, one Light was not expecting the other man to make.

The hunchback investigator thought for a moment. _What would have happened if he did take me seriously all of the time? Would he have realized I was trying to save him? That I love him? That I wanted more than anything for him to NOT be Kira?... Would he still want to kill me then? He knows I knew all along that he was Kira. In fact he fell for every one of my traps willingly, as if to say 'I'm Kira and you can't do anything about it' "_ Yes. I would say that's a fair assessment. But... I could say the same about you." _DING._

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Tell me Light, from the moment you were born has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" The bells, rain, and thunder stop as the detective spoke those words. It was now completely silent. L asked the killer this question, not to see if the boy would give himself away as being Kira, but to find out if the words Light spoke to him just 2 weeks ago were true.

 **2 Weeks Earlier**

It was the day before the investigation team would catch Higuchi. Moral was high and L knew for sure Higuchi was Kira. Light seemed different to him however. Ever since he was released from his holding cell, Light seemed so sincere… innocent even. He never denied that he could have been the first Kira, and that Kira's powers had passed on from him to another person. In fact, Light believed it himself. During the time the two were chained together they had grown closer, and L swore that he wouldn't let Light become Kira again, even if it killed him.

The inky haired detective was alone in the office. Going over everything again and again to make sure he didn't miss a single thing; planning the precautions he would take in order to keep Light from becoming Kira.

An caramel haired boy stumbled into the office. L glanced at him from the corner of his vision. He noticed Light was shoeless, beltless, and his white button down shirt was loosely clinging to him. _He's drunk. Damn Matsuda..._ The insomniac rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to the computer screen in front of him.

"Howww is ittttt...that the world's GREATEST detective..." the brunet snickered, "...is sitting _alone_ in a dark room surrounded by computers, hmmmm?" The boy stumbled forward and fell into an office chair beside the older man. Light sat himself up, moving the chair closer to L.

The detective looked over to see what all the ruckus was about. Dark, onyx orbs met the gaze of the drunken boy. L averted his gaze quickly, he couldn't risk getting lost in those eyes now. Not when Light was so vulnerable.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki... w-why'd you remove the chain so soon anywayyyyyy? I kind of miss being around you all hours of the day. You barely even talk to me anymooore." Light pouted.

L had told Light that he didn't feel it was necessary to be chained together anymore. When in truth, he needed space from him. The detective already had feelings for Light and he was afraid of what might happen. No, more like what he would do if he was around the boy for much longer. Confessing his feelings to Light wasn't an option, not with the Kira case being close to finished. He couldn't let his own judgement become clouded. Light is Kira, or at least he WAS Kira.

L could feel the brunet's sight on him, watching him. The air in the room felt thick and L found it hard to breath. _I have to get out of here._ The detective quickly got up from where he was sitting and headed for the door, not bothering to take his unfinished strawberry cheesecake with him.

"Heyyyy! Where are you going? I'm trying to talk to you!" Light leapt out of his chair.

"Light-" L began, but was cut off when a certain brown haired boy knocked him onto the floor. The attacker, who was now pinning his victim to the floor, giggled. The detective forced his eye-lids closed, not daring to look into the other's, not when they were...like this.

"Come on _L,"_ Light purred, "Open your eyes."

"No."

"Pleaaaaase?"

"No."

"Why not?" The brunet let out a heavy sigh.

"Light-kun I would rather not-"

"I love you."

L's eyes shot open. His onyx orbs met golden brown ones. Light smirked. The detective's heart was now pounding through his chest. He couldn't move. _Had Light really just said that? Is it true? Why is he telling me this now?_ A million things ran through his head. He was pulled from his thoughts when his attacker leaned closer to him, their lips only centimeters apart. L took action. As much as he wanted to jump the drunken Kira right there, he knew if he did, there would be no turning back. He threw Light off of him using his feet, got up and hurriedly made for the exit.

 **Present Time**

 _DING._ The bell along with the rain began their symphony once more.

Yagami's eyes widen at the detective's question. He knows exactly what L is getting at and he sure as hell isn't going to let his guard down right now. He knew it would only be a matter of time before L's demise. He wouldn't let Kira lose this chance. He couldn't... "Where is this coming from, Ryuuzaki? I do admit I stretch the truth here and there. However...find me one person in this world who's never had to tell a lie, it wouldn't be easy. Human beings just aren't made to be perfect like that. Everybody lies from time to time. Even so, I've always made a conscious effort to be careful not to tell a lie that could hurt others. That's my answer." _DING._

The detective took in what the other had just said. _He's avoiding the question? No… No that's not it..._ "I had a feeling you'd say something like that." L turns his head and looks at the ground. ' _I've always made a conscious effort to be careful not to tell a lie that could hurt others.'_ The older man tries to make sense of that statement. _He knows! Of course he knows what I meant by my question..._ _Is he trying to tell me that what he said two weeks ago is true? DING._ The bell sounds once more, this time startling L. "Huh… Let's go back inside, we're both drenched."

Light lets out a small laugh. "Yeah." _DING._

Good and evil are now back in Task Force HQ drying themselves off on a flight of stairs. Even though they are now inside, L could still hear the bell and the faint sound of the rain colliding with the building. L knows that he doesn't have much more time. He knows that today he will die; that today Kira will get the better of him. _I really thought I could change him. Damn! If only I hadn't let Light take the notebook! How could I have been so careless? Is it too late?_ The detective lets out a sigh and walks toward the brunet, who is now sitting on one of the steps.

"Well, that was certainly an unpleasant outing." The dark haired man says, now standing behind the other.

"It's your own fault," Light began drying his hair with the towel he was given. "I mean what did you expect?" _Did you expect to change me? To change the way I see justice? Why? After everything… How could you still believe that I'm capable of becoming the same person I was before I had a death note?_

"You're right..." L says in such a sad tone that makes Lights heart sink. "Sorry."

 _Sorry for what Ryuuzaki? For trying to change me? For getting in my way? Or… are you sorry that you got close to me?_ Light began drying the front part of his hair so the towel would cover his face. He could usually control his facial expressions, but his own thoughts really hit him deep. _I am Kira… Kira loves L. No... no Kira and L are enemies. Light loves L. The Light that I was before. We cannot co-exist. I am either Kira or I am Light._ The brunet's heart felt so heavy in his chest. _I will see this through! I have to. No matter the cost! L will die today and I will become God of the New World!_

"Hmm..." The detective walks down the steps and kneels before Light, taking the boys foot in his hand.

"Huh?" Light felt cold hands on his bare foot. "What are you doing?"

Midnight eyes met caramel. "I thought I might help you out. You were busy wiping yourself off anyway."

"L-Look it's fine, you don't have to do that."

"I can give you a massage as well?"

 _What the hell is he playing at?_ Light wonders.

"It's the least I can do to atone for my sins. I'm actually pretty good at this." L says, matter-of-factly.

 _Atone for his sins? What does he mean by that? Is he talking about him going against Kira? He knows today is the end for him. Why is he doing all of this?_ The brunet looks away from the man who's life will shortly be over. "Fine. Do what you want." _DING._

"Alllllright." The detective began massaging Kira's foot. To L, it seems like the bell is getting louder and louder every time it rang.

A few drops of water fell from the older man's still damp hair and found their way onto Light's foot. The brunet sighs and picks up the towel next to him. "Here, you're still soaked." He began drying the ebony strands of hair attached to the other's head. _I love him… I love him... I love him! What am I thinking? He's against Kira. He needs to die for the greater good. Would it really be worth it? How would I even stop what I started?_ Light knows that his plan to kill the detective has already been set in motion and the moment they set foot in the office, L would be living on borrowed time _. L will really die today and Kira will win. I can't let my feelings get in the way of this. I just can't!_

"I'm sorry..." _I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry we had to meet like this. I'm sorry that we're enemies. I'm sorry that I am L and you are Kira. I wish I could have stopped it. I wish I didn't take you with me in the helicopter to catch Higuchi._ _ **And most of all...**_

Light couldn't bear to look at the man who was kneeling before him rubbing his feet, like Light was some sort of God. ' _I'm sorry.'_ The way he had said those two words cut him deep. He had never heard the man before him speak in such a desolate tone. It almost sounded like a plea, like he was begging for forgiveness.

 _DING._ "It'll be lonely won't it?" The brunet is pulled from his thoughts again by the other's sullen words. "You and I will be parting ways soon." Before Light could respond the detective's phone rings. The raven stands up and lifts his phone out of his pocket, holding it to his ear with his thumb and forefinger. "Yes?" He speaks into the device. "I understand. I'm on my way."

"Huh..." The copper-eyed boy says under his breath. _What was that about?_

"Come on. Let's go Light. It seems like it's all worked out." The man said this in such a tone that Light couldn't quite understand. _What's worked out?_ He wonders. _DING._

The two doomed males make their way back to the Task Force Office.

"Ryuuzaki!" Matsuda calls out. "What's the meaning of all this?!" He says desperately. "You've somehow gotten approval from another country to use the notebook for an execution?"

"Watari," L began, in his usual monotonous tone. "Excellent work, thank you."

" _Not at all."_ The elderly man says through L's computer.

"First things first," L began again, "Please make arrangements to transport the notebook immediately."

" _Right."_

"Ryuuzaki what are you trying to do?" Light asks. But he knows all too well what's going to happen. _Damn! Damn L! Why do you have to figure everything out! You could have lived! You don't need to die! We need people like you in the New World!_

 _DING._ The black haired male picks up a spoon from his desk, using it to point at the death note, which just so happened to be opened on a page that looks like someone had torn a piece off at the bottom. "I'm going to try out the notebook for you." Everyone in the office gasped.

"We can't do that!" A very angry Aizawa shouted. "And there's no point in testing it now when we already know the notebook's power is real!"

"And besides, who's gonna write the name?" Matsuda stupidly asked. "If someone starts writing in the notebook, they'll have to obey the 13 day rule and keep writing names forever!" L knows this is a rule written in the notebook, but it just dpesn't seem to match up. It fits too perfectly to show that if Light and Misa were Kira and had used the death note, they would have died when they were in confinement. L came to the conclusion that it's a fake and he is going to prove it.

"It's already been worked out. The person who will write in the book is a criminal scheduled to be executed in just over thirteen days." L takes a breath and begins speaking in a very serious tone, "If he's still alive thirteen days after writing the name he'll be pardoned from execution."

Chief Yagami is astonished that L is going this far. "But still, to sacrifice a life-"

The pale detective interrupts him. "We're very close! If we work this out the entire case will be solved!" _DING._

Light could feel the malice coming from the Shinigami that stands behind him. He knows what is about to happen. The boy's heart begins to beat faster. _DING._ He wonders if L knew he only has minutes to live. Rem will be writing his real name down in the notebook any second now. Any second now L's heart will stop and everything L is and everything L stands for would be erased, just like that. Kira's rival would be gone, and the World's Greatest Detective would lose.

An alarm blares. All of the screens in the office turn bright red. _DING._

"What is this?!" Matsuda yells.

 _Thump-thump-thump-thumpthumpthumpthumpthump._ Light's heart begins to beat at an alarming rate. _NO! NO! I DON'T WANT THIS! PLEASE!_ He began to plead with the Shinigami in his thoughts. _Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump. IT'S NOT TOO LATE! L CAN'T DIE. HE CAN'T!_ The brunet feels completely powerless. He wants so badly to scream and shout and plead with the God of Death to spare the detective's life, but he can't. There's a part of him holding him back, not allowing him to do anything but stand there.

Outside the Task Force Hq the rain is now coming down heavier than before. Thunder roars through the sky, clashing and thrashing with loud bangs as if God himself was infuriated. Lightning finds its way into the mix, illuminating the moonless night sky. A flock of crows begin wailing and flying away from the tall building they were taking shelter in, as if they would be better off trying to navigate through the vicious storm than perching peacefully under a canopy on that roof.

 _DING. DING. DING. DING. DING. DING. DING. DING._ L could hear the bell ringing louder and much faster than is was before. He knows something isn't right. _No!_

"Watari?!" L says hastily into the microphone.

'ALL DATA DELETED' appears on the bright white screens in front of him.

"WATARI!" The detective exclaimed. _No! This wasn't supposed to happen! Why has Watari been killed?!_

"Data deletion? What the hell is going on?!" Aizawa asks, fear in his voice.

"I told Watari... to make sure that he should erase all information in the event that something were to happen to him." L states.

"If something were to happen...?" Aizawa asks, his fears now coming to the surface.

"Could it be?" Matsuda asks, obviously just as frightened as his superior.

"Where is the Shinigami?!" L asks frantically. Watari has been killed right in front of his eyes, and Light has been there the whole time. There's no way Light was the one who wrote Watari's name down in the notebook; it had to have been the Shinigami.

"I don't see it!" Chief Yagami yells.

 _DING. DING. DING._

The members of the Task Force, excluding L and Light, search around the room trying to spot the Shinigami, but to no avail.

"It disappeared!"

"What's going on?!"

 _This is the end._ Good and evil think at the same moment. _It's over._

 _DING._

"Everyone! The Shinigam-" _Thump-thump._

Light froze. _This is it. I know those are his last words._

Time slows. Silence seems to envelop the entire world. Light begins to lose his vision. The only thing he can see is the raven-haired detective slowly falling from his chair. It's as if everything is a blur, but at the same time everything is so clear. The brunet stared in horror at the man falling from the chair who is now about to crash to the ground.

Light leaps forward, just in time to catch the falling man. He positions himself so his-self would be the one to hit the ground and not the detective.

" _Ryuuzaki!"_ L could hear a faint voice calling out to him, but it didn't come from the man who is now holding him in his arms. Images from his childhood begin to flash in his mind. Parents. _DING._ Wammy's House. _DING._ Alone. _DING._ Detectives. _DING._ Police. _DING._ Heart attacks. _DING._ Kira. _DING._ Japan. _DING. Am I alive?_ Shinigami. _DING. Ah… I am dying._ Light Yagami. _DING._

The flashbacks stop. L Lawliet could no longer hear the bell. He does, however, hear the rapid beating of another's heart. _No, it's not my own. My heart has already stopped. Whose heart is beating like that? I almost envy them…_

 _No man is an island,_

 _Entire of itself._

 _Each is a piece of the continent,_

 _A part of the main._

 _If a clod be washed away by the sea,_

 _Europe is the less._

 _As well as if a promontory were._

 _As well as if a manor of thine own_

 _Or of thine friend's were._

 _Each man's death diminishes me,_

 _For I am involved in mankind._

 _Therefore, send not to know_

 _For whom the bell tolls,_

 _It tolls for thee._

As Light looks down at the pale man, his vision becomes watery. _He looks so peaceful._ The detective's eyes, usually surrounded by dark circles, are now pale, matching the color of the rest of his skin. His black messy hair now flowing evenly and softly through the brunet's fingers. _Say something… Please..._ Light isn't sure if he's telling himself to say something, or if he was pleading with the man in his grasp. A tear finds itself falling out of the teen's eye, softy colliding onto the others cheek.

The detective felt something drip onto his face. _Water? Where did that come from?_ He looks up at the person clutching him ever so slightly. Onyx orbs met caramel for the last time. _What, not even a smirk_ , _Kira?_ L thinks for a moment. _A tear? Those eyes... those eyes are not the eyes of Kira. They are the eyes of Light Yagami. Could he have been telling the truth that day? No... if that were the case, why would he have me killed?_ Lawliet can hear the fast thumping noise of the brunet's heart. It is almost music to his ears. _From the moment I met you Light Yagami, I knew you were Kira. I knew that if I got close to you, it could very well mean my demise. I went against my own reliable intuition and did it anyway. You started a flame in my heart I never thought possible. I didn't try hard enough to save you from becoming a monster again. You were so pure before you held the notebook. So... sincere. Damn you Kira! Damn you Shinigami! Damn you for turning Light into this monster! Damn you to hell!_ His eyes begin to close, slowly. L wishes he could speak, wishes he could say one final thing to the man holding detective opens his mouth slightly. He tries to speak, to tell the brunet what he should have told him when he had the chance. Nothing came out of the raven's mouth but air, his final breath. L Lawliet's eyes close completely.

… _ **I'm sorry I never told you that I love you.**_


End file.
